The Enemy Within
by Electron Beam
Summary: After two campaigns against the Heartless, Sora is suffering from severe paranoia and depression. He is shutting out the outside world for fear of his enemies. But his newest enemy is one he can't hide from.
1. Valuable Property

Valuable Property

One thing that Sora had learned while fighting the Heartless was to expect the unexpected. If someone had told the thirteen-year-old Sora that he'd be fighting enemies ranging from a shotgun-toting hunter riding an invisible chameleon to a compulsive gambler with magical playing cards, he'd have fallen over laughing. But now, after two campaigns against the Heartless and a victory count of over 500,000, he was half-expecting to be attacked by a businessman wielding giant paperclips on a riding lawnmower.

However, being constantly on guard for random attacks had taken its toll on the young Keyblade master. He had become steadily more paranoid as the months went by. Some days, it was so bad that anyone who startled him was liable to be the target of a vicious swipe of the Kingdom Key. He didn't mean to hurt anyone; he was simply watching his back. Nobody blamed him. Most people would have completely come apart by now.

There was one thing that kept him up nights: he knew he couldn't cover every possible attack vector. No matter how security-conscious or paranoid one may be, there is _always_ a way past their defenses. The opportunity, no matter how small, was there to stay. Sora knew this, and it made him crazy. He could never shake the thought of some powerful entity watching him; carefully conducting surveillance and using their new intelligence to plan a perfectly timed strike.

Though the possibility of such a strike being carried out was infinitesimally small, it still allowed half of evil's formula to exist. Evil is the combination of opportunity and desire. If someone had enough desire, he, she, or they would be willing to wait for years and years until the proper opportunity presented itself. That, more than anything, was the source of Sora's insomnia.

One wishful thought of Sora's was to know the exact way in which an enemy would attack. During his fits of tossing and turning at night, he constantly wished he knew how his enemies, real or imaginary, would choose to assault him. When one knows of an attack, one can plan an effective defense. Without knowing that, though, the best he could hope for was a quick reaction time.

His friends, or at least the ones who knew what he had done, tried to assure him that nothing was out to get him. When that didn't work, they tried to console him by pointing out that he had the skills and experience necessary to defend himself against anything that anyone could throw at him. He remained constantly frightened.

Everyone but Riku and Kairi had dismissed him as a lost cause. Psychiatrists had labeled it as post-traumatic stress disorder. Within months, he had become a case study for graduate students. Multiple doctors had prescribed tranquilizers and antidepressants by the dozens. He had refused it all on the grounds that he didn't want his sanity depending on the twice-daily administration of synthesized chemicals. As such, he continued his decline into complete paranoia.

His story followed the same path as those of traumatized war veterans and survivors of deadly accidents. Depression, paranoia, short-term memory loss, and occasional dementia turned the happy-go-lucky Sora into a dark, sullen recluse. He only fraternized with his closest friends. Of the billions of people in the universe, there were only five that had any kind of meaningful contact with him: Riku, Kairi, Hayner, Pence, and Olette. Everyone else was either shut out or ignored.

Kairi was the most affected by Sora's rapid change. When she thought about the awkward, happy child that Sora had been, it brought tears to her eyes. Though she continued to love him, she couldn't help but to want the old Sora back. More than once, she entertained the idea that she was his only link to any kind of sanity.

As Sora worsened, Kairi followed close behind. At night, while Sora checked and rechecked for anyone or anything lurking in the shadows, Kairi would look at an old picture of the two of them on the dock, watching the sun set over the ocean. She remembered all the times they had spent on that island, from her first trip out there with a very young Sora and Riku to the end of the second quest after the defeat of Xemnas. She hadn't been to the island since they had returned.

***

Vega sat in the main chamber, listening to electricity arcing between wires. Her subordinate, Daq, was finishing a diagnostic test of the equipment they had spent two years building. Though the actual building was finished over six months ago, they had the same problem as all complex machinery: it didn't work right the first time. So they had spent the last half year troubleshooting everything until it ran as smooth as silk. It had to be that good. When they put it to work, their window of opportunity would be very, _very_ small.

She used to tug on her long, brown hair while she waited, but that habit had been kicked long ago. Now she just drummed her fingers on the chair's armrest. Apparently, Daq could hear her, as the crackling of electricity stopped momentarily.

"Just hold on, love. This is going to take a while."

She sighed. As much as she hated waiting, she couldn't rush Daq. He was the best engineer in the universe when it came to incredibly complex electronics like the one he was fixing now. There wasn't a machine built that he couldn't disassemble, repair, and rebuild. Companies on multiple worlds had been offering him jobs with very attractive salaries and benefits up until he vanished four years ago. Vega had seen his talent and decided that he must work for her. She had kidnapped him from his city apartment and brought him to this island, where the two of them designed some of the most malevolent technology ever created.

Two years ago, they had begun building the most sinister device ever made. They cut off contact with the outside world and spent eighteen hours a day designing, building, and testing their masterpiece. Their acquaintances hadn't seen either of them in that time, much less had any idea what they were doing. One of their contacts, a lifelong spy, had gotten worried when the two of them disappeared. Unfortunately, he too 'disappeared' before he could warn anyone. To Vega's knowledge, his body still hadn't been found.

Daq and Vega made a strange team. They were both geniuses in technological fields, but Vega's advantage was that she had been gifted with incredible dark powers. Though Daq was smarter, he was Vega's subordinate, as his fighting skills were that of an uninformed average Joe. And while Daq saw everything as a schematic drawing, Vega saw the world in terms of gain and loss. Every action was carefully weighed beforehand. If someone got in her way, they were eliminated. Obstacles were scrutinized, divided, and systematically destroyed.

Their collaboration had created some of the most terrible pieces of technology in existence. They had been responsible for everything from biological weaponry to psychological torture programs to magical power theft devices. The last was a point of personal pride for Vega, who had designed and built the whole thing solo. It allowed one to, in effect, 'steal' the magical gifts of another person. Only someone with extensive training could resist it. Luckily for mages, the device cost upwards of a back-breaking two and a half billion Munny.

When Vega began hearing stories about the Keyblade returning, she immediately began searching for a way to get one. It was late one night, when she was trying to figure out ways to scam chemical companies out of their formulas, when she figured out a way. It was an audacious plan that required precision timing, overwhelming pinpoint force, and a technological miracle. She could provide the first two, and Daq was there to provide the third. Then they started building.

The sound of electricity arcing ceased, and Daq slid out from beneath the machinery. Vega could see a pair of new singe marks on his dirty blue coveralls. His short blond hair had the characteristic coating of lubricating oil all over it, and he had red rings around his eyes where his goggles sealed against his skin. Though taller than Vega, he was very thin, verging on gaunt. He had tailored his appearances to utility. Short hair wouldn't get caught in moving parts. Being thin allowed him to squeeze into tight spaces more easily. Coveralls were easy to clean and don. Nothing about him was superfluous.

Vega's appearances were a sharp contrast. Her dark brown hair was long and styled, accenting her chiseled, angular face, giving her a stark beauty. Her suit, though actually two separate pieces, transitioned seamlessly from bottom to top. Following the tradition of other dark magicians, it was mostly black. The joints and gloves were accented with orange markings, and there was one wide orange stripe on her torso, starting at the back of her neck and ending in a V on her stomach. Her head was the only skin showing. While the actual suit was skintight, lightweight black armor provided some heft and thickness to her appearance. She had made the suit specifically for her combat needs: mobility, flexibility, but able to take a little punishment. The only problem was that the form-fitted armor was quite difficult to take off. A small compromise, in her opinion.

Daq walked over to a console and tapped on the touchscreen twice. The machine whirred to life, ready to work in unison with the hundreds of others in the room. Vega listened to the sound with satisfaction.

"How many do you have left to fix?"

Daq didn't look away from the touchscreen to reply. "You can start Bravo phase any time you want to, if that's what you're asking. By the time you get back, I'll have these finished." He tapped commands into the virtual keyboard. The whirring machine turned off shortly after he finished the last line of code. "Just tell me when I can turn off the transmitter. It's eating up power that I need to fill our capacitor array. The thing's a power hog."

"I will." She stood, continuing her thought to herself. _That boy's got valuable property… property I want. Not even seventeen, and gifted with enough power to destroy entire worlds. The very thought of it makes me giggle, and I _never_ giggle._

Smiling, Vega headed for the Gummi ship's landing pad. The excitement of her plans picking up speed coursed through her, making her giddy. She'd have to calm herself down to fly the Gummi ship off this world. Don't want to send the only means of transportation into the drink because she couldn't control her emotions.

She walked to a set of automatic doors, which noiselessly slid open as she approached. Down the long, rock-walled hallway, there was another set of doors. When those opened, Vega felt a chilly spray on her face as a wave crashed on the rocks below. The wind had picked up considerably since the last time she was outside. The sky was thick with clouds. It looked like a tropical storm was on the way.

_No matter_, she thought. _I'll be gone before it hits. I might have to contend with it on landing, though. That won't be fun._

She climbed into the bubble canopy of the ship and began preparations for takeoff.

***

When night fell on the Destiny Islands, it fell with uncommon grace and splendor. The western horizon would be splashed with orange, pink, red, eventually melting into purple and blue farther away from the sun. To the east, puffy cumulus clouds that had been building over the ocean all day towered above the extinct volcano that had created the islands. The tops of the clouds glowed red as the last rays of sun still shone on them. Near the top of the sky, the brightest stars could just begin to be seen at dusk. It was a sight to see, one that often amazed foreigners. Though dawn was nice on the islands, most agreed that sunset was the most beautiful time of day.

Kairi lay on her bed, looking out her window. The sunset was displayed brilliantly between framed photos of her and her friends on the island and a shooting star clock. Though she enjoyed watching the sunset, she wasn't looking at it to savor the color and beauty. She was trying to find something to distract herself from Sora. Every time Kairi thought about him, she felt as if someone was stabbing her in the chest. At first, she thought it was callous to want to ignore the feeling. But as time passed, it became clear that the feeling wasn't helping anyone, so she distracted herself when it came up.

The sun slipped below the horizon, taking what little light was left in the sky with it. Though the horizon still glowed purple, the sky twinkled with stars. Windows shone with bright yellow light. One window she took special interest in was the one on Sora's house. It was just close enough to make out major details with the naked eye. Some nights, it was on until sunrise. But so far, it was normal. The light would go out eventually, and then Kairi would be able to fall asleep with the knowledge that even Sora was content with his own security.

As she lay on her pillow, she drifted off several times, the melodious song of slumber calling her. When she pulled herself back to full conscience, she checked Sora's window. After the third time, however, it was out. Kairi checked the clock. 9:27. That was early. It usually went out around 10:30 or later.

Though her initial reaction was panic, she calmed herself. Maybe he was beginning to recover. If his paranoia was starting to subside, it would only be a matter of time until he was back to the old Sora she had fallen so deeply in love with. That thought alone was enough to placate her fears. She drifted off again, this time with no intention of waking up until dawn.

* * *

A/N: Well, with the publication of this, I will have _three_ stories all running at the same time. And though it may seem like I have abandoned _Into the Dust_, I have been chiping away at a second chapter. It's slow work, but it's getting done.

On a similar note, chapter 8 of _Fortress World_ is getting done as well. With school in session again, I'll have less of my summer time-sinks to contend with, so updating will become fairly regular again.

I'm taking a different route with this story. While before, I have written stories fully planned out for around 15 chapters, I plan to let this one go as long as I think necessary. It could go in many different directions from here. I guarantee at least one surprise enemy popping up very soon. Where things go from there is all a matter of personal preference and ideas submitted in reviews. So be sure to hit the green button!


	2. Disappearing Act

Disappearing Act

By the time night fell, Vega had been waiting for several hours, and she was ready to move. Her plan was coming together quickly; all the pieces were in place. Though she disliked operating around so many people, the prize was _far_ too great to pass up the opportunity. The power of the Keyblade was close enough to taste.

She had been hiding in an abandoned house near Sora's neighborhood. Island legend had it that this house was cursed. Every time somebody moved in, they had something terrible happen to kill them. One resident was murdered during a robbery, the next fell off his roof while making repairs, and another asphyxiated when he left the stove on. People often joked about how much they wished a spark had blown the house up, because the final resident was found decapitated and surrounded by satanic symbols and ritual markers. After that, even demolition crews refused to even go near the house. Even islander children, who were crazy by any reasonable standards, were horrified of the house. Vega could reasonably assume she was safe there.

Though she was not superstitious, Vega was anxious to get out of the house. If it truly was cursed, it was by an ancient form of black magic in which even she didn't dare drabble. The power required for such a deadly curse was immense; more than almost any modern magician could muster. However, if it was just folklore, the mere thought of such stupidity drove Vega away from the place.

Once the sun sank below the horizon, she made her move. Stealth was no concern while she was on the cursed house's property, so she merely walked to the front gate and opened it, strolling out into the night. Once she got closer to the town, though, she had to remember her stealth training. When it came to infiltration, few were better than Vega.

She hopped a fence into a field of wild grass, where she sank below the brush and quietly moved towards the far end. She hardly left a trail in the fragile grasses as she silently continued onwards. At the far end of the field, the field abruptly turned into a forest of pines and firs. Though they normally only grew on the mountain slopes of the island, this small patch had ventured down onto the flatlands near the town.

Pine needles and sharp branches posed no threat to Vega's lightweight armor, allowing her to run through the dense forest underbrush unhindered. Even in the thick forest floor vegetation, she moved with deadly speed and intent. It seemed that even the mighty forest was afraid to oppose her, lest she destroy it tree by tree. Thickets that would have stopped even the most experienced outdoorsman posed no obstacle to her.

The black blur was indistinguishable from the myriad of other movements in the forest. She came across a group of teenage couples sitting around a fire, blankets draped over their shoulders. Even though it was late summer, the nights got cold on the island. Vega was able to see her breath in the cool, wet forest air as she passed by the gathering.

Eventually, the forest began to thin; game trails and secret back routes gave way to paved bike paths and wide dirt walkways. Vega looked around for the landmark she had memorized: a warming shack next to a very large fir tree. Finding it, she consulted her mental notes. Her objective was two kilometers from here, directly to the west. She turned towards the purple-stained sky and continued her advance.

The sound of cars became louder and louder, telling her that she was heading the right direction. When she came to the edge of the forest, she could see the town straight ahead. The main thoroughfare of the area ran straight in front of her, blocking any kind of stealthy approach. However, Vega was not one to let something as simple and predictable as a road stop her. She concentrated on a spell she had learned long ago, funneling her energy into it.

When she felt the spell complete itself, she looked for her hands. When she couldn't find them, she smiled in delight and ran across the road, unseen by motorists. Venturing past the very edge of town, she walked within inches of people, completely unobserved. The odd comedy of her invisibility made her smile as she galloped past large groups of people congregating in the shopping district. Every once in a while, she could swear she nicked a passerby, but they continued walking, dismissing the minimal contact as an unexpected breeze.

Once she passed the brightly lit stores of the shopping district, Vega found herself entering the residential area. Small houses had yellow lights illuminating the lower level as people began to settle down for the day. Some houses only had the flickering blue glow of a television, while others were completely dark. None of the occupants had any inkling of the powerful dark sorceress as she ran through their backyards and vaulted their fences.

At long last, she came across the house she had set out for. As she had expected, the lower level had dim lights on, while one room on the second floor was glowing brightly. That was her target. All she had to do now was ascend to that room and incapacitate Sora. The first was easily accomplished thanks to stone inclusions in the brickwork of Sora's house. The second would be done with one of Vega and Daq's malevolent inventions.

She felt a slight tug on her control of the invisibility spell and knew she had to act quickly. In minutes, she would no longer have the magical energy required to continuously bend light around herself. If she suddenly materialized in Sora's field of vision, even a magician of her caliber wouldn't last long against the Keyblade master.

She climbed the rock edges that stuck out from the brick and hoisted herself to the window. Grabbing the windowsill, she pulled the first of her tools from her belt: a composite-fiber crowbar. She wedged it underneath the window, careful to only open it as much as she needed. As she replaced the crowbar, a movement from inside the window caught her attention.

Sora was on his bed, facedown in his pillow. Vega wondered what purpose his odd position served until she saw his entire form shudder as if he were being violently shaken. It stopped momentarily, and then began again, only lasting a few seconds at most. When Vega finally realized what it was, she was startled at how degraded her own humanity had become.

He was sobbing.

What happened next caught Vega unaware. She hadn't felt this feeling in the longest time. It was vaguely familiar, and yet she couldn't remember what it was. It certainly wasn't the feeling she usually got when her enemies were on the ground weeping; that was sadistic pleasure, and she loved it. This was something new, something she couldn't remember the word for. There was a word for it, wasn't there? Surely some lesser people felt this more often, likely the source of their weakness.

She reached for the next tool on her belt, only vaguely aware that she had forgotten what pity felt like.

_It's that damn transmitter,_ she thought. _The signal must be affecting me too. I never feel anything but joy when my enemies fall. I should call Daq and tell him to turn that thing off and start charging the capacitors._

Her next tool was an ultraviolet cutting laser. Because no visible light was used, the laser was invisible. The only way it made its presence known was when it began burning through something. Very few materials stood up to its destructive beam. Before she and Daq had started work on their masterpiece, they had been working on a weaponized version of it. Surely the window latches in Sora's room would quickly fail.

Inserting the opening in the miniscule opening beneath the window, she began to burn through the brass latches keeping the window shut. Sora, his face still buried in his pillow, didn't notice the slight acrid smell that began to permeate the room.

The laser kept cutting. Within seconds, both latches were nothing more than molten slag. Vega carefully slid the window up, making sure to not create any sudden noises. She crept into the room, drawing a syringe full of a clear fluid. As she crept closer, she felt another pang of sorrow for the young boy. She still didn't know what it was. All she could concentrate on was how close her ultimate power was.

She readied the needle. Inside was a synthetic microbe that attached to nerve endings, cutting off voluntary impulses, the effect of which being total temporary paralysis, save for automatic signals to the heart and lungs. Sora would be completely helpless soon after injection. The only drawback of the microbe injection was that it only had a total effective time of fifteen minutes before the body's natural defenses wiped it out. She would have to act quickly.

The needle plunged into Sora's shoulder, quickly releasing its contents into his bloodstream. He jumped and yelped at the sudden pain and turned to face his attacker. However, his combat posture quickly faded as he collapsed on his bed, immobile. Vega picked up his limp form and hoisted him over her shoulder. She picked up the transmitter she had clipped to her belt.

"Daq, I've got him. Shut off the transmitter. It's starting to have effects on me now."

"_What? That can't be, it's been precision tuned to only affect Sora's heart-_"

Vega cut him off quickly. "It's doing something weird to me. Just turn it off. We don't need it anymore anyway."

Though the transmitter was now off, it would take several minutes for the tail end of the signal to race through the void and reach the Destiny Islands. Eagerly awaiting the end of the signal, she climbed out the window again, shutting off the lights as she did so. A quick glance at Sora's digital clock revealed the time to be 9:19. Perfect. She could make her getaway before his parents made their hourly check-in on the half-hour. Regretting her inability to use dark portals, she jumped down from the sill, landing gracefully on the grass.

The ocean was nearby, and that's where she planned to make her getaway from. She carried Sora to the dock and untied one of the boats. Picking up the oars from the bottom of the hull, she pushed away from the rickety wood construction, sending the two of them into the small segment of sea between the main island and a smaller island just a bit offshore.

When she was satisfied that nobody could see them, she sent a signal to her Gummi ship orbiting high above them. A pencil-thin line of blue light struck the Keyblade master and her captor, and they both vanished, leaving the boat floating in with the tide.

***

"_Gone? Where to?_"

"_If I knew that, I wouldn't be here asking about him!_"

Kairi awoke to her adopted mother's tiny voice and Riku's deep tones. Even in her half-conscious state, she could tell that Riku was concerned about something. From what little she could process, 'he' was gone, whoever 'he' was. And whoever 'he' was, he was certainly driving Riku up the wall.

Rolling over under her covers, she resolved not to worry about it unless Riku came barging in her room as he had done once before. Early that morning, Sora and Kairi had snuck into Riku's room and covered the floor with rubber snakes and spiders, Riku's two greatest fears. He had later gone to Sora's house and, to the amusement of Sora's parents, beaten him over the head with one of the spiders.

He had also gone to Kairi's house, but he never intended to hit her. The only thing planned for Kairi was a bit of revenge in the form of putting the spider right in front of her face for her to wake up to. However, Sora had sent a preemptive text message warning her of the impending attack, so she had time to get dressed before he came sauntering into her room. His trespassing had earned him a punch in the gut.

Other than that, though, Riku more than respected her privacy. It verged on a pathological fear of being labeled insensitive to girls' needs. He was always hesitant to enter her room, even when Kairi invited him in. Once inside, he was never comfortable, much to Kairi's amusement. However, being a good friend, she never kept him there long.

Sora was similar, only he actually _did_ have a pathological fear of being labeled insensitive. Kairi found this humorously ironic, considering he had captured her heart with his awkward charm and quiet sensitivity. He almost flat-out refused to enter her room. When asked about it, he said that he had always thought of her room as her inner sanctum, a place not to be intruded upon. Kairi had to verbally grapple with him whenever she wanted to cuddle or just have some privacy. Her parents were a bit overprotective.

So Kairi merely lay there, enjoying the morning light. She always slept late, getting out of bed mid-morning. The sun was already up, the birds were already singing, and the Saturday morning cartoons were already over, so she could watch something decent without her younger brothers hogging the television.

To her surprise, there was the sound of footsteps rapidly ascending the stairs. Was Riku really going to-?

_Wham!_ "Kairi! Get up get up get up! Come _on!_" Riku yelled, slamming her door open. He went to tear the covers off her bed, realizing just in time that she might be wearing little clothing or none at all. He retreated under Kairi's angry glare as she pulled the covers up above her neck.

"Riku, you've got two seconds to explain why you're here."

"Sora's _gone!_"

The words shot through Kairi like an arrow. She immediately began to panic. Gone? Gone where? Had he run away? Why? To leave his life behind? To kill himself? Had he been taken? Where? What would someone want with him? Or was he just out for a walk and nobody knew about it? Or was there another possibility?

Riku paced around her room, babbling to himself. "He couldn't have just _left_ us, could he? I mean, he's been acting strangely recently, but _running away?_ It's not his style; he'd have left a note or something. And there's no way somebody could have _taken_ him, is there? He's the most paranoid person in the universe!"

A rogue thought crossed Kairi's mind. "His depression has been unusually bad recently. Maybe he'll come back when it gets a little better. Right?"

Her uncertain tone left Riku unconvinced. "I doubt it. If he's gone, he doesn't want to come back and he doesn't want to be found. I knew it would come to this. We should have made him talk to us. Talk to someone. Take the medicine. _Anything_. It would be better than having him disappear forever."

Kairi considered Riku's tangent. Maybe he was right. Though Sora was usually resistant to force, he may have seen the light eventually. But what she noticed most was how much Riku had changed, too. He was never such a worrier. Regret was simply not in his vocabulary. He used to be wildly impulsive, and while it had gotten him in trouble before, it made him who he was. This new strung-out Riku was not the boy she used to know. It seemed that everyone she knew was affected by Sora's sudden decline.

In fact, it seemed that Riku and Kairi had switched roles. Usually Kairi was the one to worry and regret ant try to cover every small possibility until it drove her insane, while Riku tended to react quickly at first but then slow down into a more controlled state. Now Riku was losing his mind and Kairi was doing the calculated thinking. Something was seriously out of place.

After a few moments of calming down a psychotic Riku, the boy a year Kairi's senior left her room, allowing her to dress for the undoubtedly long day. She hadn't used traveling clothes in a very long time, but she kept a few sets just in case. There was one that she favored above the rest, and she thought it brought her good luck. Hoping the charm would last, she extracted the outfit from her closet.

The bottoms were white capris, laden with pockets and zippers. They often looked a bit excessive, but they became infinitely useful on long trips when she needed to carry many small objects. Ending just below her knees, they allowed for contact with fresh air and mobility. Whoever had made this pair had coated them with an experimental chemical, creating a near-magical barrier that repelled dirt and oil, making them always look freshly washed.

Her top was a plain pink tank top under a white t-shirt with a zipper in front and a hood. The hood seemed to be in the same 'excessive' category as the pants' zippers. While its official purpose was facial concealment, it mostly looked good, which was Kairi's top priority after utility. Both the tank top and the t-shirt had been coated with the same chemical as the capris.

As she examined herself, she realized how much more white she had been wearing since Naminé had begun sharing her body. Though there were no physical changes, there were subtly psychological alterations; her sudden affinity to white was one of them. She wondered what Roxas had done to Sora.

She walked down the stairs to find no trace of Riku. Sensing her impending inquiry, her mother informed her that he had gone home to get into his own traveling clothes. He wanted to meet her halfway between their houses and then go to the police station to get a missing person report filled out and sent as far and wide as possible. No doubt reports of Sora going missing would spur some serious activity in most major worlds.

Giving a quick goodbye to her mother and assuring her that she wouldn't be gone for more than a few days, she walked out the door and headed towards Riku's house, ready to begin what would definitely turn out to be a long and difficult search. Even though she knew she should be despairing at the disappearance of her dearly beloved, she was surprised to find herself feeling better than she had in months. In fact, the last time she could remember feeling so generally good was before the Heartless had arrived. It was a strange phenomenon, but she wasn't going to question it. She was just thankful that her own slide into depression was cut short.

***

As Vega had predicted, the tropical storm had hit the island right as she was landing, making a smooth touchdown nearly impossible. Rain and winds buffeted the Gummi ship, sending it dangerously lurching right and left near the ground. After much difficult maneuvering, the ship set down on the pad. Vega opened the canopy and pulled a drugged and hog-tied Sora out along with her.

The rain soaked her hair, but it couldn't permeate her armor, so she didn't mind it. However, they'd have to let Sora dry before they put him in the machine. It took all of Vega's self control to stop herself from disregarding Daq's warnings and simply putting the kid in immediately.

She threw him over her shoulder and walked in through the double doors, sealing the rain outside. When she entered the main chamber, Daq turned around and stared in awe.

"Is… is that… really…?"

Vega smiled malevolently. "In the flesh. Maybe not the mind anymore, though. That trick with the transmitter had him sobbing into his pillow when I got there."

Daq let out a low whistle. "You know, I thought I was prepared for this, but… to see him in real life… it's surreal. I hope the transmitter hasn't sent his heart so out of whack that our creation can't do its job."

Chuckling, Vega put the soggy Keybearer in a chair to let him dry. "I doubt that a heart as strong as his would be broken by false emotions transmitted from a million miles away, no matter how well tuned the antenna is. We should be fine here. If you absolutely must, you can run a diagnostic while we're waiting for hi to dry."

Thinking that Vega's suggestion was a wise one, Daq placed some electrodes on Sora's body and hooked the up into a computer on the wall. Vega was confident that he would find nothing out of the ordinary. It took a great deal of patience to simply sit down and stare at the greatest source of power in the universe.

_So close. I can feel its power in his presence. It will be mine before this day is done!_


	3. Murder is for CroMagnons

Murder is for Cro-Magnons

The universal map was considered one of the greatest inventions of all time. Its humble appearance was deceiving. Though it only appeared to be a glass sphere mounted on a metallic gray cylinder, it was one of the most powerful computers ever created. Inside the pedestal, there was one of the most sophisticated projectors available. It could actually bend light that it had already exited the glass ball, allowing it to project images behind things, so people could walk in the projection field and not distort the map.

Underneath the projector, there were memory banks that each held trillions of bytes of information each. They contained everything from detailed maps of each world to navigational data for every known route between worlds. It was, essentially, the ultimate map. It could even update itself in the event of new discoveries, giving it the nickname of the Silent Cartographer.

Such a device was absolutely invaluable to interworld travelers, so naturally Sora, Kairi, and Riku had one of their own mounted in Riku's basement. He'd had a room built especially for its use. He was there now, examining a holographic three-dimensional map of the Destiny Islands. Kairi was on a computer terminal mounted into the wall, uploading a new program to the map's processor.

Riku looked over the map, which was zoomed in to show the main island. An inverted orange pyramid hovered over Sora's house, which was his last known location. Nobody had seen or heard from him since he had retired late yesterday. In the morning, he was gone, the latches on his window melted. It was a good bet that he hadn't left of his own will. That, more than anything, worried his two friends.

The keyboard tapped quietly as Kairi finished installing the new program. There was an electronic beep, and the map distorted for a moment as the software integrated itself into the map. Small windows appeared in midair, scrolling text too quickly to be read. Kairi got up from the computer and stood next to Riku, watching the small white-on-black windows open, scroll text furiously, and then close themselves. In minutes, the update had been completely installed, and the map wavered for a moment, readjusting itself to the new input it was receiving.

A final window appeared, stating that the program was completely installed and ready to use. Riku tapped the window, sending it back into the projector. He then placed his hands into the map and spread them apart, zooming in the map to a three-mile radius of Sora's house. He then stood back and began issuing voice commands to the computer.

"Search for unusual events in this area between nine o'clock P.M. yesterday and six thirty-two A.M. today. Display in chronological order."

The map swiveled and zoomed in to Sora's neighborhood, highlighting the ground in one area in a red ring. An electronic female voice flatly announced the map's findings.

"_At this location at 9:24 P.M. yesterday, police reported a vehicle stolen, the first in this area for seven years._"

The map then highlighted Sora's house in the same pulsing red ring. "_Sora was reported missing from his home at 6:32 A.M. today. His whereabouts are still unknown._"

Riku grimaced. Nothing he didn't already know. He expanded the map to include the island that they used to play on. "Retry search."

The computer hummed, pulling up several events and giving in-depth descriptions. A party with underage drinking had been busted, a power surge had momentarily caused a brown-out in one neighborhood, but nothing truly worrisome until the clock display reached ten thirty. A blue beam was shown extending from the water between the main island and the small play island to the top of the room.

"_At 10:30 P.M. yesterday, there was an anomalous energy spike detected in this area. Readings are consistent with the transport beam of a Gummi ship._"

Both teens walked towards the beam, mouths slightly agape at the strange event. The computer continued its explanation.

"_At the same time, an unidentified craft was detected leaving Destiny Islands-controlled space via warp drive. Its final vector was one-three-three point two nine by minus six-zero point zero one._" The map changed to a view of a star field. The Destiny Islands, just above Riku and Kairi's heads, was indicated with a pulsing blue dot. A red line appeared from the dot, slanting down and towards the center of the map. It stopped after several feet of growing. "_This course intercepts the star Beta Proximi after four light-years. No other information is available._"

The two friends stared at the display, wondering what to do. If Sora had been kidnapped and taken onto a Gummi ship, he could be in millions of different places by now. A search would be completely futile. Since they had no other method of tracking him, there was little they could do. Kairi's shoulders drooped at the thought. She turned to Riku, despair welling up within her.

"What do we do now, Riku?"

The silver-haired boy gazed at the star field with a stoic expression. "We go to the King. He'll know what to do."

Kairi's eyes widened. "Of course! He'll have some advice for us."

"Exactly. Let's get us a Gummi ship and get outta here."

***

On a rocky island in the middle of an ocean, waves crashed angrily against the sheer cliffs and sprayed up into the tall formations of stone that stood out of the water. If there was any vegetation on the island, it would have been tossed violently by the wind. The tropical storm had grown into a full hurricane as it slowly crawled over the sea.

The tempest spawned brilliant lightning and deafening thunderclaps, but neither could be seen or heard from inside Vega's lair. Built deep into the rock, it was impervious to man and nature alike. It gave her a sense of pride to be invulnerable to attack. She was safe here, something she would never say about any other place in the universe. The natural defense of the ocean coupled with her powers and weapons made her base of operations the most secure place ever created.

In the main chamber, she waited impatiently for Sora to dry completely. Daq had suddenly had a change of heart, and wanted to get Sora into the machine and be done with it. When Vega had stopped him, he questioned her about it thoroughly. He simply didn't understand her motivations yet.

"I don't get it, Vega. What's the problem with putting him in it now? Even if it malfunctions, we only need to use it once."

She sighed deeply. "Daq, dear, putting him in the machine now would almost certainly cause a short and fry our sweet little boy here. And we don't want that."

Daq cocked his head, confused. "And why is that?"

She strode over to him, putting one arm around his waist and brushing the side of his face with the back of her gloved hand. "Because that would be murder, and murder is unsophisticated. Any thug can kill. Cro-Magnons and Neanderthals can kill. It's so… violent and unnecessary. We have more depth than that, more class. Don't we?" She raised an eyebrow and looked into his eyes with a smirk. He gulped, unsure of how to answer. Though he and Vega were intimately close, he was still scared of her. If she decided to end his existence, it wouldn't take much effort at all. He managed to stutter a reply.

"I-I-I guess s-so…"

She smiled, kissing him gently. "Good. Killing is reserved for very special occasions. And little Sora isn't going to hurt us without his precious Keyblade, is he?"

"No…"

Vega spun around, walking towards the unconscious Keyblade master. "Exactly. We don't need to prematurely end his life. Just think about how his girlfriend would take it." She knelt next to him, her face hovering inches over Sora's. "Oh yes, I know about Kairi. I hear she's the catch of a century. And I simply can't bring myself to destroy such a beautiful relationship. So you can think of what I'm doing as a favor. If you don't have the Keyblade, you won't go gallivanting off and getting yourself killed on some worthless world." She laughed at her comic justification.

Though hesitant to interrupt her when she got like this, Daq knew he'd better get Sora into the machine before Vega became stark raving mad with anticipation.

"Is he dry yet?"

Vega gripped a piece of Sora's clothing and brought it to her cheek, feeling for moisture. "Just a few more minutes. Then he's all yours."

Daq was still conflicted about using the machine immediately. Part of him wanted to protect his labor of love that was two years in the making, and part of him wanted to get Vega the Keyblade and let her unwind, damage to the device be damned. Vega became very aggressive when she got impatient, and she was _very_ impatient right now. But couldn't she just wait a few more minutes so that their creation wouldn't be destroyed? It would be such a shame to waste all that work on a single use.

He began to power up the large capacitor array with energy from the reactor buried dozens of feet below them. They would need an incredible amount of energy, and Daq was going to waste no time in finishing the job. The sooner everything was done, the more likely he would escape without serious injury inflicted by Vega in one of her impatient frenzies.

A low hum emanated from the walls as electricity crawled up wires into massive storage banks behind the metal panels. Daq moved from station to station, powering up computers and other systems. It wouldn't be long now.

***

Riku powered up the Gummi ship's engines from his seat at the front of the cockpit. The ship rumbled to life, floating just above the hangar floor. Because he constantly needed to leave on a moment's notice, the control tower always granted him immediate clearance to take off. Without waiting for the response from the tower, he nudged the throttle forward, and the ship glided out of the hangar doors. As he tilted the nose back to begin his ascent, the air traffic controller granted him his clearance. Riku pushed the throttle forward, and the colorful ship climbed into the sky, heading for deep space.

After an uneventful ascent, he entered the coordinates for Disney Castle into the ship's Navi-G terminal. The computer accepted the numbers, but then the screen flashed a red warning. _Restricted Coordinates – Controlled Access._ Riku entered his personal passcode for entrance to the castle, which negated the warning. The warp drive began to hum as it powered up for the jump.

Turning to his only passenger, he saw her somberly gazing out into space. He put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

"Hey, we'll find him. I promise."

Kairi sighed. "I know. He still has my lucky charm, after all," she said with a sad smile. Riku leaned over to hug her. She needed it. She had been sliding into depression for months now, and Riku was the only one who was able to truly listen to her. Sora had been far too isolated within himself, and it hurt Kairi to think of him like that.

The Navi-G beeped, and the warp started. The ship accelerated into the distance, far past the speed of light. It was an odd property of Gummi blocks that when they were attached to a Navi-G, Einsteinian relativity no longer applied. They and their passengers could go as fast as their engines could take them. This, in the case of Riku's ship, was incredibly fast.

They spent two hours in the ship, flying towards Disney Castle at top speed. When they got close, the Navi-G shut down, allowing the ship to be brought back below lightspeed. At a certain range, the docking computer in Disney Castle's Gummi Hangar took control of the ship, guiding it down into the cavernous underground hangar.

When the ship touched down, Riku and Kairi were escorted to the audience chamber by several of the Royal Knights. They entered the actual door at the base of the comically large doors at the entrance to the chamber. There, at the far end of a long red carpet, King Mickey was discussing something with one of the court magicians. When he saw Riku and Kairi approaching, he nearly jumped out of his throne.

"Riku! Kairi!"

The pair stopped just in front of the stairs leading to the throne. Riku bowed and Kairi curtsied. "Your Majesty," they both replied simultaneously.

The King laughed. "Aw, shucks, guys. Ya don't have to do that anymore." He hopped down from the throne. "So, what brings you all the way out here? And where's Sora?"

The teens looked at each other. Kairi decided to take the lead on the explanation. "Well, he's kind of the reason we're here."

"Why? Where is he?"

Riku shifted uneasily. "We were hoping you could help us with that."

Mickey's eyes widened. "Sora's missing?!"

Nodding, Kairi explained the entire situation, from the melted window latches to the unidentified Gummi ship leaving the Destiny Islands. As she continued, the King's eyes narrowed. His normally happy face took on a look of bitter frustration as Kairi finished her exposition.

"Do you know anyone who could have done that, Your Majesty?"

The King practically growled his answer, which was comically awkward in his high-pitched squeak of a voice.

"Vega."

Eyebrows raised, the Keyblade wielders exchanged puzzled looks. "Who?"

King Mickey strode towards the audience chamber's exit. "I'll show you. Follow me." The group of three, accompanied by several knights, walked through parts of the castle neither of the teens had ever seen before. They descended into the bowels of the castle, where the aesthetic changed from royal splendor to technological dungeon. The walls were made of dark blue metal and had panels with small lights every so often. The only lighting was from two strips of dim blue lights in the top corners of the corridor.

The King stopped at a large door at the end of the dark hallway. A security console next to the door lit up yellow, demanding in an electronic voice for the intruders to identify themselves. Mickey punched in a long code of numbers into a keypad and put his gloved hand over a handprint scanner. The console must have recognized the glove, because the voice suddenly announced "Welcome, Your Majesty" and the door hissed open.

Inside, there were consoles manned by technicians wearing coveralls with the King's seal on them. Riku swore he saw one that looked like he could have been Goofy's brother. They ignored the newcomers, either uninterested or unaware. The large headsets most were wearing pointed to the latter. Mickey made no show of entering the room; he demanded no salute or any kind of acknowledgement at all. He simply walked to the far end of the room, where a large touchscreen was mounted on the wall.

Riku and Kairi followed, leaving the knights posted at the door. They stood on either side of the diminutive King, watching as he brought the screen online. Soon, the monstrous panel was glowing brightly. The King stood back a step.

"Okay. Ya in there, Tron?"

Another electronic voice came over the speakers next to the screen. Unlike the others Riku and Kairi had gotten used to hearing, this one lacked the flat, pre-recorded quality of other computer voices. In fact, it almost sounded human.

"I'm here, Your Majesty. What can I do for you today?"

"Show me the file we have on Vega."

There was a slight pause, then the voice came back. "Alright. Bringing it up now."

The King turned around and saw the pair staring slack-jawed at him. "Oh, I get it. You aren't used to dealing with programs like Tron. Ya see, he isn't like most programs. He's a security program customized for use by Ansem himself. I brought him here from Ansem's lab when we tore down the Heartless-makin' machine in that castle. Now he works for me. He's much smarter than other programs. Much friendlier, too."

The screen lit up with the words TOP SECRET for a moment, then changed to a display of an electronic dossier with a blurry photo of a dark-haired, fair-skinned woman in black armor with orange highlights. The name at the top of the screen was short: VEGA.

"Here it is, Your Majesty. And greetings to you, Riku and Kairi."

Mickey turned again, once more greeted by confused expressions. "We have files on you, too. He recognized you from your photos."

The mouse returned to the screen and listened as Tron described the character on the screen.

"Vega is one of those people we know almost nothing about. What little we do know is either inconsequential or very specialized knowledge. But here are the facts.

"She is a powerful dark sorceress. The exact magnitude and nature of her powers are unknown, but we do know that she is incapable of summoning portals. Whether that is a commentary on the rest of her abilities or not remains to be seen. There are reports of her using most of the other standard powers of darkness, including magical shields, homing magic missiles, and levitation.

"The few sightings of her report her being slightly above average height, very physically fit, and always wearing a black-and-orange armored jumpsuit. Though these sightings are over the span of seven years, her appearance has not changed. There are no reports of her ever sustaining any kind of injury, magical or physical.

"One of her unique points is that she is an inventor. The stuff she cranks out is vile. If you've ever heard of a nasty piece of technology and wondered who would ever make such a thing, chances are she's involved. She has one known associate, named Daq, with whom she works. The exact nature of their relationship is unknown, but unconfirmed reports suggest that she is considered to be in charge.

"They disappeared over four years ago, and there have been no sightings of either one since. They are currently listed as missing, presumed alive. Their last known location is on a world in the Northeast Universal Sector, grid 43-Alpha by 92-Sigma. That world is thought to be uninhabited at this time."

Tron paused to allow an image of himself to appear on screen. "It's almost certain that she's the kidnapper, Your Majesty. I can send patrols out to look for the unidentified craft detected over the Destiny Islands if you like."

The King shook his head. "She could be anywhere by now. Keep our patrols at home. What we can do is-"

An alarm cut off the King in mid-sentence. One of the technicians turned to the group.

"Unidentified Gummi ship on approach, Your Majesty. Our flight computer has control now. We're bringing it into the hangar."

Mickey, Riku, Kairi, and the Royal Knights all took off running for the hangar. If their mysterious new enemy was taking the fight to Disney Castle, they all wanted a piece of the action. There was no better vengeance for a kidnapping than perforating the kidnapper with a sword.

In the hangar, they all waited for the ship to enter. Half of the Royal Knights were in the hangar, along with most of the court magicians. Chip and Dale were having heart attacks trying to keep everyone off of sensitive equipment. They scurried about, constantly moving knights and magicians around. Their panic was interrupted by a landing alarm, sending them scurrying back to their post high above the hangar floor.

The doors to the hangar opened, revealing a rapidly darkening evening sky. A malevolent, angular black shape silently coasted into view. The very outline struck fear into some of the younger knights, who had never seen such an intimidating, mysterious shape before. As it drifted lazily towards the active pad, the hangar lights revealed orange highlights on the ship. However, the cockpit was tinted, obscuring any occupants.

Touching down lightly, the engines cut out abruptly as the computer disabled the fuel flow. King Mickey made his way up to Chip and Dale's post and picked up the intercom.

"In the name of the King of Disney Castle, I order you to open your canopy!"

There was a hiss of gas, and the dark glass slowly began to retract. The knights readied their shields and weapons, the magicians poised themselves for spellcasting, and all three Keyblade wielders in the hangar summoned their weapons. The glass continued to slide back. Since everyone was below the cockpit's level, nobody could see the pilot or passengers. Riku, aware of this, jumped up onto the ship's nose, ready to attack. The glass slid back completely, revealing a very dazed, very confused, _very_ tired Sora.

***

A few hours later, in the castle infirmary, Riku and Kairi were sitting next to a waking Sora, who was still slightly dazed. The injections he had been given earlier were working wonders to keep him healthy. Though there was no sign of physical injury, he was ready to collapse from exhaustion.

Kairi was first to notice his eyes beginning to open, and she immediately threw her arms around him, nearly sobbing at their safe reunion. Sora weakly returned the hug. He greeted Riku in the same lackluster way. They had been told he would be like this for at least a few more hours. However, they couldn't hold back their questions. Riku was first to ask the most important question of all. "What happened to you, Sora?"

Sora rubbed his eyes and shook his head in an attempt to ward of the grogginess that had been assaulting him for so long. He summoned up his last reserves of energy to answer.

"We've got a problem. A big problem."


End file.
